


Not A Fairy Tale

by Kyuubiluver342



Series: The Many Times Seto Kaiba Was In Debt To Joey Wheeler [24]
Category: Yu-Gi-Oh! - All Media Types, Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Monsters (Anime & Manga)
Genre: Heat Stroke, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-18
Updated: 2019-04-18
Packaged: 2020-01-15 19:16:37
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,177
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18505360
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kyuubiluver342/pseuds/Kyuubiluver342
Summary: Joey knew two things in this world: The cute girl always gets the hot guy and he wasn't a cute girl.





	Not A Fairy Tale

Seto crossed his arms and glared fill force at the other. The man cowered, shrinking down under the cold, icy glare that was aimed his way.

“Is this some sort of joke? Because if it is, it’s a poor one.” Seto growled.

Mokuba stood nearby, typing quickly on his laptop. If what the man was saying was true, then they were going to be in a lot of trouble.

“Sir, I’m sorry, but I just don’t have anyone right now who can fix that.” the man said nervously.

Seto grit his teeth. They were just days away from having the biggest, if not the most expensive, gaming system launch in Kaiba Corp history and now they were being told the system probably couldn’t handle a little heat? Seto was about to start foaming at the mouth when a knock came.

“Enter!” he snapped as Joey walked in, duel disc in hand.

“Wow, who pissed in your Cheerios this morning?” Joey asked curiously as technician took that moment to run away.

Mokuba made a note to fire him anyway. He was clearly incompetent and would need to be replaced. 

“Nothing you need to worry about, Mutt. Now, are you here to waste our time or are you here to test the new system?” Seto demanded.

Joey’s eyes slid to Mokuba, eyebrow raised as Seto turned and stormed off before Joey could answer. Mokuba just gave a smile and a shrug before he followed. Joey sighed loudly before racing after them both. They entered the dueling arena and Joey took note of the new podiums.

“Going all out on this one, huh Money-bags?” Joey muttered.

“Of course. Not that it matters to you, but Kaiba Corp prides itself on being the best.” Seto replied and Joey huffed.

“You know, Money-bags. I didn’t have to come in on my only day off. I could have stayed home and let you test your damn system yourself” Joey snapped and Seto glared.

“As if you would miss the opportunity. Please, Mutt, spare me.” Seto mocked.

Mokuba coughed loudly and they both looked at him.

“Can we please get started? We need to test out the new boundaries we put on before we reveal it to the public. Joey, we do appreciate you coming in. Seto could have tested it, but he knows the coding too well and we wouldn’t be able to gather the information we need.” Mokuba demanded and Joey nodded.

Joey was going to play test the new system while Mokuba and Seto watched. They would take note of everything they saw that could be off or would need updates before the launch. As the podium rose to the top, Mokuba and Seto moved to a room nearby and sat down, watching from behind a glass screen. Mokuba put on a headset and plugged his laptop into the main system.

“Ok, Joey. Whenever you are ready, plug your disc in. We will start at level 1 and go up from there.” Mokuba said into the mic and Joey gave a thumbs up.

The program started and the duels got underway. The first few duels were child’s play. Joey wiped the floor with the computer easily. As the levels started to increase however, Joey started to break out into a sweat. He took off his jacket at one point, leaving him in only a tank top and jeans. Seto tried not to be distracted, but it was a little difficult. Mokuba just kept giving him the side eyed grin and Seto flushed. Eventually, Joey raised a hand and wiped his brow.

“Is it supposed to be hot up here?” he called and Mokuba frowned.

“Hot? The fans are on.” he muttered to Seto before speaking into the mic.

“Joey, trying turning up the fans on your left and right.” Mokuba called.

Joey reached out and cranked them both up before continuing the duel. It was clear, however, that it had done absolutely nothing. Seto frowned and looked over Mokuba’s shoulder.

“Do you see anything overheating?” he asked and Mokuba shook his head.

“No, I can’t find anything that would be causing that much heat.” Mokuba said.

They were so busy eyeing the levels that they never saw Joey’s knees give out. They only heard the thud as Joey’s body hit the floor of the podium. Mokuba ripped the headset from his head as he slammed his hand against the emergency stop while Seto raced to the podium. As it lowered it’s prize, the medical team came flooding in. Seto pulled Joey from the podium and frowned at his flushed face and hot skin. He handed him off to the medical team and stood nearby.

“He’s suffering from heat stroke. We are going to need to take him to the fourth floor medical wing and cool him down.” the team leader said and Seto scowled.

“Take him immediately and send me updates as you get them.” Seto ordered as Joey was placed on a stretcher and taken away.

Mokuba walked over to the podium and stared at it, brow furled. That didn’t make any sense. 

“What the hell happened?” Seto growled and Mokuba frowned.

“I’m not sure. We are going to have to test it again. Something must be wrong with the cooling system.” Mokuba stated.

“But we knew that already. It shouldn’t have been that bad.” Seto muttered.

The brother stared in frustration. They had to figure it out before someone got really hurt. Seto scowled and pulled off his jacket before climbing onto the podium.

“Seto, are you sure?” Mokuba asked worriedly.

“We need to figure this out. Start me at level 1 and we will go from there.” Seto stated.

Mokuba didn’t like this idea at all, but they needed to figure this out before it hurt someone. Walking back to the room, he started up the program again and kept a closer eye on the levels this time. Once again, Seto was fine through the first few, but as soon as he hit level ten, he started to actively sweat.

“Mokuba, it looks like the fans aren’t working properly. They stopped blowing out cold air the second the level changed.” Seto explained and Mokuba frowned.

“Joey got all the way up to level 20. Maybe it’s a fluke?” he asked.

Seto continued, but as soon as he hit level 15, he called it off. He was clearly not well and Mokuba worried they would have two people in the medical unit, not just one.

“The heat just got worse the longer I was up there. Cranking the fans did nothing. Whoever installed them completely screwed it up.” Seto said as he came back down.

Mokuba handed him some water and a wet towel. He placed it around his shoulders and sighed.

“I don’t understand why Joey didn’t call it off. It’s clearly faulty.” Mokuba said.

Seto shrugged, but was clearly upset. This was bad, thank god they had tested it or they could have ended up with a serious problem. Seto’s phone went off just then and he put it on speaker.

“Mr. Kaiba, Mr. Wheeler is doing better. We got him cooled down and he should be fine in a little while.” the team lead said.

“Good. I want updates as soon as you get them. Make sure Wheeler is taken care of.” Seto ended the call and Mokuba rubbed his eyes.

“We owe Joey again.” Mokuba said and Seto’s head dropped.

“I don’t even want to think about that right now.” Seto muttered running a hand through his hair.

Mokuba just sighed and decided it was best to just let it go. He left soon after, heading towards the medical wing when he saw Joey coming around the corner, jacket over his shoulder. They both stopped, staring at each other.

“Oh, hey Mokuba.” he said with a wave.

“Joey, what are you doing? You should still be bed.” Mokuba said and Joey rolled his eyes.

“I’m fine, kid. Just got a little dizzy. Don’t worry about it.” Joey said with a shrug.

“Joey, you could have been really, seriously hurt! Why didn’t you say something?” Mokuba asked.

“I figured it was a part of the experience. Didn’t think it was that bad.” he muttered scratching his cheek.

“Joey.” Mokuba whined and Joey laughed.

“Relax, kid ok? Now you guys know what the problem is and you can fix it.” Joey said patting him on the head.

Mokuba rolled his eyes as he started to fix his hair. Maybe Joey was stupid, but at least he was honest.

“Fine, but next time, just tell us something is wrong ok?” Mokuba muttered.

“Honestly, Mokuba, it wasn’t that bad. I’ve been in hotter places before. Just glad Money-bags didn’t test it out.” Joey muttered.

Mokuba glanced away when Joey looked at him.

“He tested it out, didn’t he?” Joey growled and Mokuba winced.

“You know him. He can’t let problems like that go.” Mokuba said helplessly.

Joey just rolled his eyes. He seemed annoyed by the whole thing.

“And he says I’m dumb. Whatever, Mokuba. Just as long as he didn’t faint too.” Joey said.

“No, he stopped before that. But seriously, Joey, you should have said something! What if you fainted and fell off the podium!” Mokuba huffed.

Joey winced and rubbed the back of his neck.

“Didn’t even think about it. I just figured I promised to help test it out and that’s what I was going to do.” Joey muttered and Mokuba sighed.

“You and my brother deserve each other.” he muttered only to freeze.

He had said too much. He had opened his big mouth and really let something slip. Joey was looking at him now, wide-eyed and flushed. He seemed to stumble over his words before scowling.

“You’re wrong on that one, Mokuba. He deserves a lot better than me.” Joey muttered as he started walking.

Mokuba blinked, startled. Wait a minute, did Joey also have a crush on his brother? Mokuba followed after him, he was not about to let this chance slip through his fingers.

“How so? I mean, you’re loyal, you’re determined, you’re one of the best duelists in the world. You definitely understand him. So who could be better?” Mokuba asked.

“I dunno, a supermodel, maybe? A rockstar? Hell, anyone with a degree would be a better fit.” Joey said rolling his eyes, as if it was obvious.

“Joey, my brother could get any of those people in a heartbeat, but he doesn’t even bother. Why would he? They wouldn’t care about him, just the fame and the money they would get. My brother doesn’t want that.” Mokuba said simply.

“And you think he would settle for me? You sure you didn’t scramble your brain recently?” he asked, eyeing Mokuba like he was diseased

“You think he wouldn’t? I mean he did call you in on your day off and you did come in.” Mokuba pointed out.

“Yeah, but that’s because I’m just too nice. He could have asked anyone.” Joey stated as they stopped before the elevator.

They never saw the numbers on top light up, indicating someone was on their way to their floor.

“But, he didn’t, he asked you. Joey, come on, why not try it?” Mokuba demanded, arms crossed.

He was so close, so very close. Just a little bit more.

“Because what am I supposed to say! That I’ve liked him since high school! That I like dueling him because that's the only time he even looks at me twice! Come on, Mokuba, this isn’t a fairy tale! Guys like me don’t get happily ever after!” Joey roared just as the doors opened to reveal Seto standing there.

Joey stared at Seto and Seto stared at Joey, eyes wide with shock. Joey’s face flushed to the point of being bright red and Mokuba’s eyes darted between the two in shock and hope. Just then, Joey turned on his heel and booked it in the other direction.

“Joey!” Mokuba called, but he didn’t stop.

Seto was just standing there, not moving when Mokuba grabbed his hand.

“We have to find him! Now is your chance!” Mokuba tugged on his arm and Seto just looked at him before they both took off.

Joey, however, was long gone. They searched the entire building, but Joey was nowhere to be found. Eventually they checked the security cameras and watched as Joey went out a backdoor they didn’t even know had been left open. Mokuba encouraged Seto to reach out to Joey, but he rejected their phone calls and wouldn’t reply to their emails. Seto went so far as to drive to his apartment, but no one was home. 

In fact, as far as his neighbor knew, Joey hadn’t been home in days, almost two weeks and no one knew where he was. They even convinced the apartment manager to open the door, but the place was empty. All of Joey’s meager belongings were gone. Seto returned home discouraged and worried. That night, he didn’t sleep and neither did Mokuba.


End file.
